Why bring in a 40-year-old at this stage, after rotating through younger players at the back end of the roster?

Well, for starters, the Heat clearly didn’t see much appealing on the buyout or free agent market. And while sending Jarvis Varnado to the NBA Development League, Howard provides some frontcourt insurance in case of injury.

“Absolutely fits into the fabric of our culture,” Erik Spoelstra said. “To be honest, it felt a little bit strange not having him with us. It makes sense, it feels right. And we were also able to do our due diligence through the first half of the season, and keep our flexibility.”

Spoelstra noted the additions of Varnado and Chris Andersen since the start of the season.

“The bigs that we have fit our personality, shotblockers, high energy, high motor guys,” Spoelstra said. “Juwan gives us the veteran experience, can play two positions, actually three positions, we actually started working him at the ‘3’ last season. But it’s more than that with Juwan.”